Origin of Species Variorum

→ the colour of the skin and hair of quadrupeds, which, 1861 1866 1869 1872

which, from determining the attacks of insects or 1859 1860

→ or from determining the attacks of insects, might 1861 1866 1869 1872

might 1859 1860

→ in 1859 1860 1861 1866

to existing species in 1869 1872

→ will always 1859 1860 1861 1866

will of course 1869

would of course 1872

what slight modifications would be of importance or not. In a former chapter I have given instances of

very

most

trifling characters, such as the down on fruit and the colour of

the

its

flesh, →the colour of the skin and hair of quadrupeds, which, from being correlated with constitutional

differences,

differences

→or from determining the attacks of insects, might assuredly be acted on by natural selection. The tail of the giraffe looks like an artificially constructed fly-flapper; and it seems at first incredible that this could have been adapted for its present

pur- pose

purpose

by successive slight modifications, each better and

better

better,

fitted, for

for

so trifling an object as

to drive

driving

away flies; yet we should pause before being too positive even in this case, for we know that the distribution and existence of cattle and other animals in South America absolutely

depends

depend

on their power of resisting the attacks of insects: so that individuals which could by any means defend themselves from these small enemies, would be able to range into new pastures and thus gain a great advantage. It is not that the larger quadrupeds are actually destroyed (except in some rare cases) by

the

....

flies, but they are incessantly harassed and their strength reduced, so that they are more subject to disease, or not so well enabled in a coming dearth to search for food, or to escape from beasts of prey.

Organs now of trifling importance have probably in some cases been of high importance to an early progenitor, and, after having been slowly perfected at a former period, have been transmitted →in nearly the same state, although now

~~become~~

become

of very slight use;

but

and

any actually injurious deviations in their structure →will always have been checked by natural selection. Seeing how important an organ of locomotion the tail is in most aquatic animals, its general presence and use for many purposes in so many land animals, which in their lungs